The Winter I Found Myself
by allthegoldII
Summary: How are you supposed to explain to your past self why you're younger than him? Allen (with Neah body-hijacking) travels back in time to meet Neah, Cross, and himself, keeping his true identity a secret. Somebody should have warned him that they were all troublemakers. crack and fun and neah-allen bonding. gen.
1. Chapter 1

Full Summary: How are you supposed to explain to your past self why you're younger than him? Allen (with Neah body-hijacking) travels back in time to meet Neah, Cross, and himself, keeping his true identity a secret. Someone should have warned him that they were all troublemakers. Plus, what's with the whole destroying both Innocence and Noah plan they've come up with? And, most importantly, how come his past self is completely human? .crack and fun and bonding. gen.

* * *

 **The Winter I Found Myself; chapter one**

* * *

Time travel was a disorientating thing. He had only used Time Record a few times after it had chosen Allen as its second wielder, and never for more thn a jump of a minute or so. Around him, golden and white lights flashed continuously.

 _ **Please don't throw up on our body**_ , Neah said in his mind. Allen mentally rolled his eyes at his slightly unwelcome hijacker as around the two consiousness' body golden light spun faster and faster.

 _It's my body, idiot. And the entire reason we have do this is because neither of us can remember anything about the past, so it's partly your fault._

 _ **I don't do it on purpose! It's your stupid Innocence that's blocking your memories. I'm just a victim.**_

The bickering distracted Allen from the fact that he was now falling _down_ instead of through the past. "Eeeeeeiii!" a scream tore from his lips as the ground beneath him focused into a very solid cobblestone road. He landed painfully on his face. For a second, he didn't want to get up. His nose had brushed the stones, and the pain brought tears to his eyes.

 _ **You're such a crybaby**_ , Neah said.

"It's an automatic reaction! I'm not crying!" Allen yelled back. There was a pause as he realized he'd said that out loud.

 _ **We've really got to work on you keeping stuff in your head**_ , Neah said.

 _I know_ , Allen said, for once agreeing with his body-jacker.

Lifting himself off the ground with a groan, he looked around. There were several people lining the sidewalks looking back at him, with food stands and other attractions. He was in the middle of the street, in front of a huge horse-drawn carriage. The black horse snuffled its nose at him, shifting its big brown eyes. Allen felt something drip down his lip, and he lifted a hand, gingerly feeling the blood pouring from his nose. It was winter in the past, a far cry from the warm summer he had left in the future.

 ** _I don't think it's broken_** , Neah volunteered, **_otherwise you'd be crying a lot more._**

 _I wasn't crying!_ Allen snapped even as he stood up quickly, giving hasty bows to all the surrounding people. "S-sorry," he said, and then once he felt like he'd apologized enough, he ran for the hills.

* * *

 **Method of Time Travel**

Miranda Lotto had died one month prior to the time-jump.

She had been run though by a level-three before Time Record could stop it, and Allen was the only one there to hold her hand as her life-blood bled out from her chest. He was also the only to see the Innocence glow brighter and brighter until it suddenly latched onto his forearm, just as Miranda breathed her last. He had been crying too hard to understand what was going on, but once reinforcements arrived much too late, clarity began coming. The choking feeling of Apocryphos' near presence warned Allen that telling anyone about his new weapon would be a bad idea. He just helplessly shook his head when other exorcists asked him what had happened to Time Record.

Because Miranda Lotto died, Allen Walker had two Innocence weapons and zero explanations for why.

* * *

 **Guess Who**

A minute after our protagonist and his extra mind-cargo made a fantastic exit, a certain red-haired man stepped out of the casino on the corner. He was laughing iends, a deeply tanned golden-eyed man and another red-head with a wide-brimmed hat. "I swear you get better and better at cheating everyday," Neah said, punching his friend in the arm. "We've yet to find a match for the great Allen Walker in poker!"

Allen rolled his blue-silver eyes, trying to hide his grin and be a serious adult. He was twenty-three, after all. "If that day comes, I'll dress up like a girl, Neah. Meaning: never gonna happen."

On the other side of him, Cross laughed deeply. He was physically the oldest of the trio, at twenty-five. "Neah, we've gotta find his match now. We can't back down from a prize like that."

Neah playfully tugged on Allen's long mid-back length ponytail. "He would make such a pretty girl, wouldn't he?"

Allen was distracted from the conversation when he saw how many people were gathered outside. Common people gathered together, looking at the middle of the street, then up at the sky. Allen stared suspiciously at the drops of blood on the cobblestones, but he didn't see anything else.

"What happened?" he murmured to a woman next to the trio. She looked up at him, blushed (they all did that) and then explained.

"A-a boy fell from the sky," she said, fluttering her eyelashes.

Allen shared an interested look with Neah and Cross. "Really now?" he said. "And where might this young chap be?"

The woman curled a finger around her hair, then slowly pointed down the street. "He ran away in that direction." After looking down in the aforementioned direction and seeing no strange boy, Allen rolled his eyes and tightened his collar, the November air was cold. "Oh, well. He must have been terribly scared," the woman said, turning towards Allen and reaching for his arm. "Would you-",

"Nope," Allen said, and they made a speedy exit away from the hungry cougar who had explained the situation.

"Never heard of a boy falling from the sky before," Neah said.

"Think it's holy war related?" Cross said in a quieter tone as Neah effortlessly called up the ark gate to return home.

"Probably not. Your Innocence didn't react to anything?" Allen asked Cross. The man shook his head, hand straying down to his waist where the gun rested. "And if Neah's Noah-senses didn't tingle, as the only fully human person of this group, I'm going to go ahead and say that it was probably just people hallucinating."

As the innards of the Ark whirred around them, Neah cleared his throat. "By the way, my dearest friend, don't think we'll forget that deal you offered. Better go dress shopping cause Cross and I will find you the best opponent in the world."

* * *

 **Our lovable future Allen and his attractive body hijacker**

After wiping his nose the best he could, Allen cautiously left the dirty alleyway he had hid in and slowly walked down the street, looking around at the world thirty years in the past. _Things seem close to the same_ , he thought. _The dresses and suits are a little off, though_. The shops were new but antiquated a to his eyes.

 ** _Can we find a hotel? I'm tired_** , Neah complained.

 _It's not even your body_ , Allen said, feeling like he was repeating himself.

 ** _It's my body if my mind is in it_** , Neah said peevishly. _**Unless you find away to give me my own, I am going to stay here.**_

That was true.

 _But_ , Allen said, as he spotted a trashy-looking "Homely Inn" several meters away, _maybe I could transfer you into your own body. Make your past self live with your sass._

 ** _Very funny_** , Neah thought back. **_I'm much cooler now though. You got the deluxe package._**

 _Hardly a deluxe package when you can't even remember how you got here, idiot._

A few minutes later, Allen was warming up his limbs in the dirty lobby of the inn. "Please, just one night," he begged, giving the innkeeper his best doe eyes. Neah had told him they were a powerful force. Of course, the blood on his collar and the red scar running down on side of his face offest it, but that was okay. The moustached man mulled over it. "One night," he declared. "But if you don't have payment for me by tomorrow night, I will kick you out on the streets. No freeloaders at Homely."

"Yes sir," Allen said. How am I going to get money?

 _ **Gambling**_.

 _I don't want the mafia after me again, though!_

 ** _They don't exist here yet, idiot. You're about fifteen years off._**

 _Oh._

"And whose name might I be putting down?" the innkeeper asked Allen. Allen jumped, realizing he couldn't give his own name. "Ahh- Lee. Sam Lee."

 ** _Are you using that hot girl's last name?_** Neah asked.

 _Her name is Lenalee, not 'hot girl,' and yes, I am._

 ** _Whatever._**

* * *

 **Fun Fact about My Body, by Neah Campbell**

After some experimentation at the Black Order a while ago, the scientists concluded that because of Allen's Innocence and my Noah-genes fueling our body, it doesn't need sleep because the human part of it is so small. It's like a human body on steroids, but better cause Allen sometimes gets my sexy golden eyes. However, stupidly, us two consciousnesses residing in Allen's skinny body need a lot of rest, more than usual. I think it's because Allen tries to argue with me so much.

On a funner note, if both of us fall asleep but forget to lay the body down in a restful position, it's apparently "freaking creepy." Reever informed us of this. I guess our body will just stand there staring glassy-eyed at nothing until one of us wakes up. I'm planning on using this superpower to freak out my chosen victims, but Allen has to fall asleep first.

 _Neah, what the heck do you mean "my body?" It's my body. Not yours. And don't call me skinny._

Sure, Allen. Just keep drinking your milk.

* * *

 **With the past Allen and company**

The Cambell manor had been abandoned for years. After what happened between Neah and Mana, Mana hadn't returned since. Too busy playing Millenium Earl.

So, of course, the trio of trouble took up residence there. While there was a perpetual pile of dirty laundry (there _were_ three idiotic boys living there), Cross kept it fairly clean. The manor was huge, providing room after room for their experiements and studies. (Innocence tended to be voliatile).

"We're going into town again tomorrow," Neah said, sprawled across the couch in front of the fireplace. Looking up from his book, Allen wrinkled his nose. "Did you guzzle all the milk again? I need at make my own private ice chest."

"Cross and I need to find you an opponent. Seeing you crossdress is just too tempting," his friend said, golden eyes twinkling. Groaning, Allen tossed his book at Neah, nearly hitting Cross who was cross-legged on the floor, cleaning his gun.

"Cross, tell him! My cheating skills need rest! Look at these quaking hands!" As if to prove his point, Allen held out his two flesh hands, wiggling his fingers. "They're shaking from exertion! I just don't have the stamina you non-humans do."

Cross met Neah's eyes. "We're going into town tomorrow," he said, smirking.

"You guys are all obsessed perverts," Allen huffed, standing up. "I'm going to bed." He grabbed the candleholder and left the room, his friend's laughs echoing down the long dark hall behind him.

* * *

 ** _I still can't believe that you chose the name "Sam." Do you want to get beat up on the street? I can't believe I'm inhabiting such a nerd._**

"Well, I like it. I don't hear any genius suggestions from you," Allen said aloud since they were alone in the dank hotel room.

 ** _At least I didn't steal someone's last name. 'Walker' was Mana's, if I recall._ ** "Recall" was a loose term, though, since neither of them remembered anything about the past.

The barb was meant to be lighthearted, but it reminded Allen of the painful fact that he still didn't have his memories and was no closer to getting them. "You didn't remember anything either?"

In his mind, Neah shook his head. **_Nothing. Whatever wiped us got us good. I still say it's your evil Innocence._**

"Right. First task: find Allen Walker, past version." He didn't have any idea what to do after that, because how could he explain the entire situation to his past self? Hey, I'm you from the future but I'm younger than you- Would he even want to tell the past Allen Walker about all the horrific things that had happened?

 ** _We are so gonna fail_** , Neah muttered. **_I'm going to sleep. Don't forget to lay down our body._**

 _It's my body!_

* * *

 **With Sam-Allen and Neah**

After receiving way too many dirty looks from the innkeeper when leaving the inn, Allen decided that maybe changing their first goal to getting money. He didn't want to start out his past life by racking up debt. The glittering golden building labeled "Casino" was like a beacon from easy-money heaven. Allen slipped into the open doors, unnoticed by the two burly guards who were arguing with a man in a top hat. His small frame, not quite hit puberty, had its advantages.

The scene inside was familiar to him. _I guess some things don't ever change_ , Allen thought. Men angrily pounded their fists upon seeing the hands they had been dealt, scantily dress women eyed the luckiest winners, and sharply-dressed waiters and waitresses carried various liquid forms of intoxication to everyone. Even though the furniture was vastly different from casinos Allen had seen in the future, the undertone was the same.

It was his element.

 ** _You are a seriously messed up kid,_** Neah noted. ** _Cross broke your psyche, I'm pretty sure._**

Ignoring the Noah, Allen immediately zeroed in on his target game. He had the perfect outfit for cheating; long sleeves that appeared fitting but were loose enough to slip cards up them and gloved hands (while his arm was no longer red, the crystal-like black texture still drew curious eyes).

Black-booted feet confidently stepped forward onto rich red carpet. Sam Lee was ready to play.

* * *

 **45 min later.**

Neah was pretty sure he was inhabiting the body of another kind of demon. Was there another kind apart from akuma? The kind that had the innocent blue-eyed smile of a kid but was a heartless swindler?

Because, holy crap, that kid could cheat. There was an obscene amount of chips in front of their body, and at least three women had tried to come onto the kid (he was like fifteen? desperate much). After seeing defeat after defeat of large, balding, sweating men, Neah was just about ready to take a cat nap in Allen's mind when a new opponent smoothly slipped into the wooden chair across the table.

Something in his memories twinged, but even without the vague recognition he felt, making the connection was easy. The opponent had a familiar teasing smile, blue-silver eyes, spiky bangs, and held his cards the same way Sam did.

 ** _Sam_** , Neah said urgently.

 _I know_ , Sam responded.

"Hello," the man across from them said. "My name is Allen Walker. And who might I have the pleasure of facing today?"

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** "There's no way in Hades I can let my past self beat me in poker."

Pretending you don't know what Innocence or the Noah memory is can be kind of hard to do when you have both inside your body, and quick thinking can only go so far. How can Sam not make his past friends suspicious?

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**This is kind of AU, obviously. As cool as Hoshino-sensei making "The Unholies" a thing, I don't think it's quite canon.**

* * *

Neah had thought the man sitting across from his best friend was an old coot at first. The shock of white hair had been totally noticeable in the casino full of shining bald heads, to say the least. As the trio drew closer, they all realized that it was a kid with an unholy amount of chips in front of him.

"Him," Neah said, pointing. "He seems like a worthy opponent." Allen sighed, pulling off his top hat and loosening his tie.

"That's insulting. He's what, five?"

"There are a lot of chips in front of him, though," Cross said, taking Allen's coat as the red-haired man cut across the main hall of the casino. "It can't hurt. Maybe if you defeat him hard enough he'll be crushed and discouraged from a life of debauchery. Kids shouldn't be in casinos."

Neah laughed. "Cross has a point, my dearest cheater. It can't hurt. Win-win, right?"

Allen was already sitting down in the plush-cushioned chair across from the strange kid as a woman dealt him his cards. It was then that Neah noticed the interesting facial feature on the boy down on side of his face. It was a jagged red scar that went up past his eyebrow. His white bangs covered the top of the scar. Looking away from the boy, Neah's golden eyes roamed the establishment. His Noah senses tingled. "Well, that's interesting," Neah muttered.

"What is it?" Cross said in a low voice.

"Someone in our vicinity has Innocence."

Cross rocked back on the balls of his feet. "That is interesting. We'll deal with it after this game." Neah rolled his eyes.

Watching Allen cheat was much more exciting than stealing exorcists' Innocence, after all.

* * *

There were a lot of thoughts running between the consciousnesses, but the one that Sam thought most important was that _I cannot let my past self beat me at poker._

 _ **Really**_? Neah said. _**You haven't matured at all.**_

 _It'd be embarrassing if the truth ever came out_ , Sam moaned. What if Kanda found out?

 _ **Your angry Japanese friend has not been born yet.**_

 _Still_ …

 _ **Focus, idiot!**_

"Hello," Sam replied, smiling back at himself was strange. This Allen Walker was older, taller, and had long red hair tied off midway down his back. His bangs were the same length as Sam's, though, and he had the same blue-silver eyes Sam had himself. (Unless Neah took over, which was an entirely different matter). "Nice to meet you. I'm Al-Sam. Sam Lee."

Most likely mistaking his stutter for nervousness and lack of skill, Allen smirked. Sam internally rolled his eyes. Looked like his past self wasn't immune to age prejudice.

"How old are you?" Allen asked calmly, looking over his cards.

 _ **You're like fifty**_ , Neah volunteered. ** _I did some estimation._**

 _Thanks, Neah_ , Sam said, _but I really don't think I can tell them that_. "Fifteen," Sam said aloud.

"That's pretty young for a hardcore gambler," the red-haired man replied.

"How did you get in here?" a third voice joined the conversation. Across the table from Sam, a black-haired yellow-eyed man volunteered the question, leaning forward and studying Sam with unmasked curiosity.

 _Oh my goodness_ , Sam thought. _That's-_

 _ **Me. Actually, you look kind of like that when I take over your body, by the way. But you're stil short.**_

 _Wow. You look the exact same as you do in my head._

"I think you scared him," Allen muttered to Neah. Realizing his jaw had dropped, Sam shut it and took a deep breath. _I've got to view them as just another opponent._ Opening his eyes, he smiled slowly. The rush of anticipation at facing a good game ran through him.

 ** _Yep, you're a youkai. Knew it._**

"I just sort of walked in," Sam said, widening his eyes innocently. "But.. do you still want to play me? It's okay if you don't."

"N-no," Allen said, shooting Neah a dirty look when his friend snorted.

The game began.

* * *

It wasn't clear at first who was winning since both of the Allens cheated However, this changed very quickly.

Is he.. cheating too? Neah furrowed his brow, trying to understand the mechanics of the fast-paced game Allen was playing in. The boy his friend was playing against seemed to be cheating just as much as Allen did. It took superhuman eyes to follow it, but Neah's Noah-genes gave him an advantage; little flashes of white as cards went up and out of sleeves, the sleight of hands. The kid's hands were gloved, a small difference from Allen's.

Allen's poker face was very, very good. Unfortunately for him, Neah had known him for over ten years, so it was easy for Neah to see what Allen was really feeling: Panic.

Allen was actually getting beaten by a fifteen-year-old boy, with thin features and slim limbs. His twenty-three year old genius poker cheater friend was getting slammed by a white-haired nerd. A gleeful smile spread across Neah's face. _Look's like Allen's gonna have to go dress shopping after all._

With a final breath from the boy (Sam?), all was over for Allen. The two players stared each other from across the polished table, Sam's hand laid out clearly. There was utter silence at the table while all around them other games went on.

"I- I think I won," Sam said cautiously. He nervously bit his lip, blue eyes worried. "S-sorry."

Allen was still silent, equally blue eyes unseeing and unfocused. Neah laughed, whacking the man on the back. "Sam Lee, I think you broke him. Thanks for defeating him. We had a bet that if he ever lost, he'd have to crossdress as a girl, and thanks to you, that's a reality!"

Sam looked utterly horrified at Neah's words. What's he so freaked out about? Neah thought. Does he think we're gay or something?

"I- He has to wear a dress?" Sam said.

Before Neah answered, Cross's huge fn's limp form out of his chair. The man was still unresponsive, but Neah thought he could hear a quiet moan "..lost...lost..kid.."

"Imma drag this loser home," Cross said, turning his eye to Sam. "Good game kid. See you around."

"Y-yeah," Sam said. The twinge on Neah's Noah instincts tingled again. There was Innocence somewhere. But where?

"That was easier than I thought," Neah told Cross as they left. "Just picked the first kid we saw, and voila! Beaten Allen." He shot one last glance at the boy sitting at the table, chips everywhere, steps faltering for a second.

He thought he saw Sam's hand wipe his cheek, but he must have seen wrong.

Why would the boy be crying?

* * *

Gone was the gleeful joy at beating his past self at poker, or even the comedic panic that had seized Sam when he found out Allen's punishment. After seeing Cross Marian in the flesh, all that was pain and a kind of sadness that left his heart aching.

 ** _I'm taking over, Sam_** , Neah told him in his no-nonsense tone. **_You're too much a mess to control this body._**

Sam didn't respond, but Neah felt the pull of the physical body for a soul to control it as Sam let go. With a blink, the Noah was in control. It was lucky that no one was watching the boy, because his skin darkened and eyes flicked to gold. Underneath the white bangs, there were stigmata hidden. In control, Neah dealt with the situation, cashing in the won chips so they would have money and then quickly walking out, effortlessly avoiding the money-hungry hookers standing around.

 ** _Sam, you've got to stop remembering. It doesn't help._ ** Neah could see all the memories that Sam was looking through, all of Cross. One image appeared over and over again, the image of Cross' blood body collapsed on the window sill. Neah grimaced.

 _Sorry_ , Sam's quiet voice responded. _It's just.. seeing him there- real- it's not supposed to hurt this much._

 ** _Of course it hurts_** , Neah said softly. **_He was the closest thing to family you ever had, and your best friend, even if we don't remember. Of course it hurts._**

 _I think it hurts more because I don't remember. I feel like I'm hurting his memory. I mean, you say how we were friends just now, how can I explain not knowing that?_

 ** _It's the Innocence in you's fault. Besides,_** Neah's tone grew intense, **_we're going to change everything this time around._**

* * *

After giving control of the body back to Sam, they went out to find something to eat. As a parasite-innocence wielder, Sam ate three times a normal person. To make it worse, he was a teenager.

Finding a normal-looking establishment with worn wooden benches and faded curtains, Sam went in and was seated. When the waiter gave him the you-must-be-trouble look, Sam simply flashed a wad of cash and all was well. While Sam knew that the use of electricity was still around thirty years in the past, candles were still prolific and one lit the deep oak table he sat at. The waiter bowed to him, asking his order.

"Steak, medium rare please, with chips and gravy as a side," Sam said, smiling.

 ** _I hate steak_** , Neah said. ** _You're disgusting._**

 _Who hates steak?_

 ** _I just said I do._**

 _I'm eating it anyway. Remember that one time we forgot to eat for two days straight? We're not doing that again._

 ** _That was not my fault_** , Neah said defensively. **_We each took twelve-hour turns for the body, and I didn't know I was supposed to keep track of eating. I just assumed you'd eaten while you had control._**

 _Sure_ , Sam said. _Surree_.

Thirty minutes and one delicious bite later, Sam was just starting in on his meal when his eye activated. Dropping his fork loudly, he was out of his chair in a second, looking for the akuma causing his Innocence to be activated.

 ** _I can hear the thought trail of an akuma directly behind us, out on the street_** , Neah informed Sam, using his Noah powers. **_If you let me take over, I could control it-_**

 _No_ , Sam said, cutting off Neah. _We're outside the casino now, and if anyone sees the physical changes it'd be bad, and besides, you can't save the souls its taken with your powers._

 ** _You are such a wimp_** , Neah said, but without any real venom. Sam's skinny legs carried him out of the diner, pushing aside richly dressed people around the entrance as his black and red akuma eye roved the street for akuma.

"Is that-" a voice from behind him said, the familiarity of it making Sam freeze where he stood, "Sam? The poker kid?" It was past Neah.

Turning around slowly, Sam frantically tried to think of something to say. _Neah, help! What do I-_ an idea came to him. Swallowing, Sam faced Neah and the two other familiar faces next to him.

"H-help," he said, trying to sound as scared as possible. "Mr. Walker and Mr. Walker's friend, you gotta help me. My eye- it's doing something weird."

Neah gasped, looking straight at the spinning gears and oddly colored pupil. "So you were the source of the Innocence I felt earlier," he muttered.

In his mind, Neah cackled. **_I don't know why you weren't born a Noah, Sam, you scheme enough for all fourteen of us._**

Sam dramatically began shaking his Innocence arm, making it look like it was possessed. "My arm," he said in his panicked child voice, "it's doing something weird! I'm scared!" He threw himself forward, Neah autmatically catching him. Feeling the burning sensation from coming into contact, Sam looked into Neah's confused golden eyes. "H-help," he said.

"There's an akuma near," Cross said. "Allen, you keep the boy with you. He has Innocence. Neah?"

"Yeah," the Noah resopnded, gently pushing Sam towards the red-haired Allen. "Coming."

Sam watched Neah point at a citizen, a citizen with a trapped dead soul floating above (not that they could see it). He clung to his past self, acting the perfect part of a scared fifteen-year-old boy with no experience with Innocence.

"Hey, kid, it's okay," Allen said. "You're not gonna get hurt."

"B-but my arm," Sam replied, lifting his Innocence hand and pulling off the glove, revealing the glowing cross inset on the back of his hand. "It's vibrating and telling me to exorcise something."

Allen bent down, meeting Sam's eyes, blue on blue. "Try listeing to that," he said. Perfet, Sam thought.

 ** _You just wanna show off_** , Neah whined. **_I always hate it when you activate it. It does this weird ringing thing in my eyes._**

 _Excuse you. I'm quite a powerful exorcist for my age_ , Sam replied.

 ** _You're like fifty._**

Ignoring this, Sam made a big deal of scrunching his facial features. Activate, he thought, and instantly his arm transformed into the sword it always did. "Whoa!" Sam said, and pretended that its weight was too much. He dropped the huge sword and threw himself away from it. "W-hat happened?"

Allen laughed. "You're an exorcist, kid! Congratulations!" The tall red-head ruffled Sam's hair. "I guess I better forgive you for beating me at poker."

More screams from up the street drew their attention. Cross had pulled out his gun and effortlessly shot the citizen, effectively killing the demon with one bullet. To all the other people in the street, it looked like someone had been murdered in cold blood.

"Better go," Allen muttered. Seeing Sam's (fake) scared and confused explained Cross' actions. "Don't worry. That was a demon, not a real person." He grabbed Sam's arm and dragged him to where Neah and Cross were quickly walking back to them. Sam felt his Innocence sword return to his shoulder again as they got father away.

Neah called up an ark gate just as a group of policement ran up the street yelling at the foursome. Sam was forcibly shoved in first, his head hitting a pot of flowers in the strange ark, and his consciousness fainted.

 ** _You are such a weak idiot_** , Neah cursed him. But the Noah couldn't take over the body because the physical effects of his Noah powers would show in front of their past selves.

* * *

"This is your fault," Cross growled as Neah fanned the boy unconscious on their couch, looking worriedly at the forming bruise on his temple. "If you hadn't shoved the kid in the freaking gate-"

"There was an akuma in the street, Cross! How was know he was going to stumble?" Allen snapped back.

"Hey, Sam-" Neah called to the white-haired kid, gently shaking him. "Wake uppp. Oh, hey guys, did you see his rad scar?"

Giving Cross one last nasty glare, Allen and him looked at the red scar Neah was pointing out, pushing back his white bangs. It was an akuma's pentagon with a line going straight the boy's closed eye and stopping just before his chin. "Weird," Allen said. "He was freaking about about it seeing something, so maybe it's a part of his Innocence?"

"Speaking of Innocence, did you see his sword?" Neal laughed. "That thing was huge!"

"He'd obviously never wielded it before, because he dropped it," Cross said. Neah shrugged and nodded.

"Do you guys think.. we should get him to join us?"

"You say join like we're some huge and powerful group," Cross rolled his eyes. "It's just three of us."

"He has Innocence not corrupted by the Black Order. I say he's the perfect candidate for the fourth member of the Unholies," Neah said.

The other red-haired member of the trio groaned, turning his back on the group and heading to the kitchen. "He's named us, Allen," Cross said. "There's no going back." A muttered "and what kind of name is Unholies?" was the heard, and then the ornately carved sitting room doors shut behind Cross.

"I think it's a good name," Neah said, pouting. He squeezed himself into the couch next to the sleeping Sam, crossing his arms. "But, seriously, Allen, do you think we should get him to join us?"

Allen poked at the fireplace with a poker, getting the fire going again in the candlelit room as the daylight faded. "He seemed pretty scared of his Innocence, so it couldn't be bad for Cross to train him. But.. he's also super young, despite his super-poker skills."

"The Black Order has five-year-olds trapped in its ugly walls trying to train them," Neah replied darkly. "I say we're the best thing to happen to this kid. We'll take care of him."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Sam joins the Unholies. Neah, though, is plagued by an important question: Does Sam even count as a fourth member?

 **More sassy Neah next chapter, hopefully. :D**


End file.
